by Mac Flynn
Trica stepped away from me and hurried to the entrance hall. He paused in the arch where the woman stood. She stared in my direction, but her eyes didn't register anything.
Trica lifted his left hand and brushed the back against her bruised cheek. He pursed his lips and hurried onward to the front door.
I sat up and strained my eyes. I should have strained my eyes. Headlights flashed across the front of the house. A long black vehicle stopped at the front door. My pulse quickened. I leapt from the couch and ran to the front windows to press my hands against the cold panes.
It was Simon's limo.
CHAPTER 11
Dolf and Maeve stepped out of the front seats with Specter floating behind Maeve. A smile spread across my face as I watched Simon exit from the rear. My smile changed to an expression more quizzical when he was followed by Basileus. The self-proclaimed vampire lord was blindfolded and held Bentley's small, limp body in his arms.
"Greetings, everyone!" I heard Trica call from the front door. "Enter and be welcomed!"
I raced to the front hall in time to watch my friends enter. Simon held one of Basileus's arms and led him inside.
Maeve's eyes fell on me. "Faith!" She rushed over and we grasped one another's arms. She looked me over. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" She swept her eyes over my head and furrowed her brow. "What do you have-"
"If you would all step into my parlor, as the spider said to the fly," Trica spoke up from the shut front doors.
Specter floated to the top of the high ceiling. "I'm pretty comfortable here."
Simon came up behind Maeve. She glanced over her shoulder and slyly smiled at him. Maeve gave me a wink before she stepped aside.
I smiled at him. "What took you?"
He glanced over his shoulder at Basileus. "He was rather uncooperative."
I put my hands on my hips and frowned at him. "So we could escape that island before."
Simon returned his attention to me and gave me his best, evilest crooked smile. "Did you ever doubt me?"
I snorted and crossed my arms. "Lots of times." My shoulders drooped. I dropped my arms and flung myself against my chest to hug him. My heart beat faster when he wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face into his cool chest and tried to keep the tears back. "But not this time."
"A touching scene if I could see it, but I demand to know why I was kidnapped," Basileus spoke up.
Trica strolled around the captive and sneered at him. "Just a little unfinished business, Lord Basileus."
Basileus frowned. "The payment wasn't due until tomorrow night."
Trica grabbed the blindfold and tore the cloth from the lord's eyes. "I changed my mind."
Basileus swept his eyes over my friends and me. "What are you waiting for? Capture him!"
Maeve, Dolf and Specter tensed. Trica stepped backward to the front of our gathering and held up his hand in front of him. "A moment, if you will. We wouldn't want to spill this-" he pulled a vial from inside his suit jacket. A brackish liquid sloshed inside the glass. "Would we?"
"This is monstrous! A woman's life-nay, two women's lives are at stake!" Basileus nodded at me. "Would you risk hers for your insane request?"
Trica's expression darkened. He gripped the vial hard in his hand, but not hard enough to break the glass. His voice was low and dangerous. "You're the only selfish person here, Basileus. You and your self-appointment as lord of the vampires in this city."
Basileus frowned. "I have only done what is right, and that is to protect the vampires from-"
"From what? Your vanity? Your jealousy?" Trica argued. He laughed. The sound was mirthless and bitter. "You couldn't have her, so nobody could. You hid your evil ways behind a cloak of so-called justice."
Basileus hesitated and shrank back. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
Trica turned his attention to the parlor. "Mirela." The pale woman stepped out of the parlor. Her blank eyes stared straight ahead. Trica walked over to her and gently set his arm over her shoulders. "This is what I'm talking about. My bride, the one who's soul, and personality, you've imprisoned inside her own body."
Basileus ground his teeth together. "She flaunted her abilities."
"She performed as a magician for young children! Nothing more!" Trica argued.
Dolf and Specter glanced at each other. The werewolf turned his attention to Simon who stood beside me. "You know anything about this?"
I looked up at Simon. His face was nearly as blank as that of the woman, but his steely eyes lay on Basileus.
Maeve's eyes flickered to Simon. "What was in that note in the safe?"
"There were no frills or rhymes there. It was just the simple truth," Trica told her.
Basileus whipped his head from left to right to stare at each of us. "Will none of you help me against this fiend?"
Specter flew around Trica and rolled up his sleeves. "I'd be glad to get rid of him for you."
Trica frowned up at him. "I have no quarrels with you."
Specter hovered in front of Trica and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I've got some payback for you. Some of your goons killed me a decade ago in the cemetery behind the house. I'd like to return the favor."
Trica arched an eyebrow. "A decade ago? I was in Europe a decade ago with my bride celebrating our hundredth year together."
Specter frowned. "But I defeated your Phantom goon there."
Trica grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "That was actually me. Sorry about the bone-threatening thing, but you paid me back with interest." His eyes flickered to Simon. "Especially since Simon new how to get rid of me."
Specter frowned and whipped his head to Simon. "You told us he was in charge of the gangs in the city, and it was one of those gangs that got me killed."
Trica snorted. "Don't believe anything my brother tells you about me. He keeps telling everyone I'm dangerous because I know he used to-"
"Quiet," Simon snapped.
Dolf arched an eyebrow. "Used to what?"
Trica grinned and his eyes flickered to Simon. Simon's eyes narrowed. "Simon the Almighty used to-"
"I lied," Simon spoke up. Everyone turned their heads and blinked at him. He pursed his lips. "Trica is not dangerous to anyone other than me, nor does he lie about what Basileus did to his bride."
"Believe nothing of what he says!" Basileus argued. "He speaks only-"
"Shut up," Maeve snapped. She strode over to Trica and his bride, and glanced at Trica with narrowed eyes. "I'd like some proof for myself that you're telling the truth."
He stepped back and held Mirela's hands in front of her. "You may."
Maeve pulled out her small traveling kit of the macabre and blew some of her power over Mirela. The woman's body gave off a faint blue glow that pulsed with a weak light.
Maeve glanced over to Simon who had watched the test. "She's definitely cursed, and her soul light isn't quite right."
"This is preposterous!" Basileus blustered. He nodded at Trica. "You would believe his word over mine? It was his doing that enacted this killing curse on Madam Bentley and Simon's own fledgling!"
Trica sneered at Basileus. "The curse Bentley inhaled wasn't a killing curse. It merely exacerbates a person's worst trait. In this case, Bentley's naturally distempered mood. It was she alone who cast that deadly spell over Faith."
Basileus's eyes widened. "Not a killing curse?" he whispered.
Trica held up the vial and stalked around Basileus. "Don't be so relieved yet, lord. She still can't control the Curse Chamber without her full focus, and I have the only cure for this curse." He paused in front of the vampire and grinned. "It's of my own making."
Basileus glared at him. He marched over to Simon and stood in front of us with narrowed eyes. "You would dare allow him to blackmail me?"
Simon's sly smile slipped onto his lips. "You were gracious enough to do the same to me, so think of it as a normal business transaction."
Basileus's mouth fell open. "But wha
t he demands is impossible!"
Trica sidled up beside Simon. "What I demand is for Bentley to release the curse from my bride and assurances it will never be done again."
Basileus frowned. "We are far from my island and-"
"I know she has control of the Curse Chamber from afar," Trica argued.
Simon smiled. "As do I."
Trica whipped his head to Simon and furrowed his brow. "You know she has control, or you yourself have control?" His attention had everyone in the room staring at Simon.
The ancient vampire chuckled. "Never leave your enemies-"
"-with the upper hand," Trica finished for him as a grin slid onto his own lips. "You sly dog."
Basileus blinked at both of them. "Of what are you speaking? Only Madam Bentley has the ability to connect with the Curse Chamber."
Simon shook his head. "She forfeited that privilege when she cursed my fledgling. The cursing allowed me a connection through both women to the Chamber."
Basileus's eyes widened. He held out Bentley. "Then why did you force me to carry her here?"
Simon chuckled. "You needed the exercise."
Basileus lowered Bentley and glared at Simon. "I call you a liar, Simon Cruor."
Simon stretched out his arm and raised his palm palm upward. A swirling ball of darkness formed over his palm. The shadows cleared to form a transparent crystal ball, and in the center was a window to a strange room.
The space was hewn from the natural stone of the island. The shape of the space was circular and a dome-shaped ceiling rose above us. The smooth stone floor was carved into four-cornered blocks that had a wide end away from the center and a smaller end closer to the center.
The most startling part of the room was the countless words scrolled on the walls. They were written in various hands by every variety of ink. It was a rainbow of language, and most of them I didn't understand. Some appeared to be Latin, others Arabic, and there was definitely some German written in a strong, black ink.
Basileus's eyes bulged out of his head. He raised his head and blinked at Simon. "My god. . ."
"Not quite." Simon reached into the ball with his fingers and plucked at the a short bit of writing on the wall. I recognized the name 'Mirela' among the words. Simon smudged and pulled the words from the wall until I couldn't recognize the letters.
I heard a gasp close by and looked to Mirela. She clutched her head and swayed from side-to-side.
"Mirela!" Trica cried out. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her side against his chest.
She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm so sorry, Trica. I wanted to speak to you all these months, but I just couldn't."
He smiled and shook his head. "It's not your fault." He glanced up at Basileus. His eyes narrowed. "It's his."
Simon closed his hand and the ball vanished. "Hey!" I yelped as I grabbed his hand. "What about my curse?"
Simon grinned. "Your curse was extinguished an hour ago."
I glared at him. "If you could do that why then didn't you do it earlier?"
"Never show your full hand to your enemy," he scolded me.
Specter pointed at the door. "We have a runaway!"
CHAPTER 12
Our attention returned to Basileus, or where he once stood. The asshole had bolted for the door.
Dolf slid between him and the door, and grinned. "Going somewhere?"
Basileus backed up and glared at him. "Step aside, werewolf."
Basileus felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to face the wrath, and fist, of Trica. Trica slammed his fist into Basileus's face. Vampire and witch toppled to the floor, and both were very much unconscious.
Trica brushed his hands together and turned to us. "Any more loose ends?"
I turned to Simon. "What about Certus?"
Simon smiled. "A slip on my part, but he was in need of rest."
"So he's got his soul back?" I guessed.
Simon nodded. "Yes, and should awaken soon." I whipped out my hand to give him a good slap, but he caught my wrist. His eyes glistened with mischief. "You would dare strike your master?"
"If he deserved, yeah," I retorted.
"If you guys don't mind?" Dolf spoke up as he tapped Basileus's head with his foot. "What are we supposed to do with them now?"
Simon nodded at the limo out the windows. "Dump them on the pier near his private yacht. His employees will do the rest."
"You'll need this," Trica spoke up as he pulled the vial from his coat. He held the glass at arm's length. "And tell Bentley not to worry about the explosive diarrhea. It'll go away in a few days."
Dolf frowned at him. "So it's true you don't like werewolves?"
Trica wrinkled his nose and waved his hand in front of his face. "Have you smelled how often your kind bathes?"
Dolf shrugged and took the vial. "Yeah. Some of those guys don't bathe much between full moons. Later."
"I'll go with you," Maeve offered.
"And I'll go with you for spirit support," Specter added.
Our friends left through the front door with our unconscious captives. My shoulders slumped and I sighed. My long nightmare was over.
Well, almost.
Trica set his hand on my shoulder and looked to Simon. "Mind if I have my sister-in-law to myself for a little while?"
Simon arched an eyebrow. "Your-"
"Didn't think you'd mind." He pointed me toward the door and pushed me outside.
"Hey! Watch it!" I complained as he pushed me across the gravel. The faint noise of the limo engine and its rear headlights faded into the distance. I pulled out of his reach and spun around to glare at him. "I want the truth, and I want you to stop hauling me everywhere!"
He folded his arms and grinned. "You heard the truth, and I promise not to haul you anywhere so long as you promise me one thing."
I frowned. "Why should I do something for you?"
He shrugged. "Call it a favor to a sibling."
I snorted. "After you kidnapped me and put me through a night of hell, I'm the one who's supposed to give you a favor?"
"I want you to take good care of my brother."
I started back and blinked at him. "Come again?"
He smiled. "I want you to take good care of him. He's a trouble-maker like me, so I know what I'm talking about."
I wrinkled my nose. "Why is everyone thinking I'm the one who has to babysit Simon? He's got Certus."
Trica furrowed his brow. "I believed the same thing for a long time, too." He paused and tilted his head to one side to study me. "That is, before you came along."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not that important to him."
He smiled and shook his head. "On the contrary, you're very important to my brother. Unfortunately, I couldn't gauge from a distance how much you had changed him, so I couldn't tell if he'd help me in my quest to free Mirela."
I glanced around. "Speaking of free, where did you hide Certus?"
Trica winced and sheepishly grinned. "You know, I completely forgot about him. Let's get him out before he-" The trunk of his car flew off with a loud bang.
I yelped and leapt back as a shadowy figure rose from the trunk. A pair of red eyes glared at Trica, who held up his hands. "No hard feelings for the bumpy ride, right?" Certus stepped out of the trunk and strode into the house without a word. Trica's shoulders fell and he wiped his brow. "That guy is scary."
I snorted. "Tell me about it."
He paused and studied me with a smile that was very close to that of Simon. "I'd like to, but-" he looked past me at the front door, "-I think somebody wants to talk to you."
I followed his gaze and saw Simon standing in the doorway. His soft red eyes glowed against the shadow cast by the lights in the house.
Trica slid behind me and gave me a push toward the door. "Go on. He's waiting for you."
I glared at him, but faced ahead and strode over to Simon. He looked down at me with a studious eye. I nodded at his hand. "Looks like you got a steal of a lifetime."
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. There is one theft that is greater, and I have yet to accomplish the task."
I arched an eyebrow. "What is-" I froze when he reached out and brushed his finger against my neck. I closed my eyes and hung my head. "Oh. That."
"That," he agreed. He stepped closer to me, so close that I could feel his chest a hairbreadth away. I opened my eyes and raised my gaze to his. "I won't force you to accept eternity with me, but I would-" He pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "I would-" He ground his teeth and turned his head away.
"Spit it out!" Trica called from behind me.
Simon glared at him, but returned his attention to me. "I wish for you to remain with me forever. Any other way would be intolerable."
I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck. I pecked a teasing kiss on his lips. "Simon, sometimes you say the sweetest things."
He arched an eyebrow. "Then. . .then you agree?"
I nodded. "Yep, but don't leave too big a hicky. The others will notice."
He grinned and wrapped his arms around me.
We embraced as human and vampire, but the deed was done that night. It was a long journey from flower shop to vampire, but through it all I made friends, and a few enemies, and a lover. An eternal lover who would remain by my side through the ages.
And what wonderful heists we pulled off.
For all books by Mac Flynn visit her author's page or visit Mac Flynn's website.
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